Abstract

The present study explores evidence on swallowing assessment using ultrasound technique. Regarding the search strategy, the review was carried out in PubMed and Scielo, using an adaptation of the recommendations from the Cochrane manual for systematic reviews. The terms "Deglutition" "Swallowing", "Ultrasonography" and "Ultrasound" were selected in English and Spanish. Original studies published between January 2000 and January 2019 were initially selected. According to the elegibility criteria, 24 original studies dealing with the use of ultrasound to evaluate some aspect of swallowing in both oral and pharyngeal stages. Selected articles offer quantitative data on swallowing parameters and indicators. From these studies, qualitative and quantitative information on lingual mobility, laryngeal elevation, lateral pharyngeal mobility, hyoid mobility, genihyoid muscle mobility, upper esophageal sphincter opening, glotic closure was collected, in addition to studies on the possibility of detecting episodes of laryngeal penetration and aspiration. The results suggest that there is positive evidence on the usefulness of ultrasound to assess swallowing, however, more studies are required to analyze diagnostic efficiency in a population with dysphagia.